My mother-in-law is getting older and we’d like to build an ADU

[John]

Hi. My mother-in-law is getting older and we’d like to build an ADU in our backyard in Sammamish so she can live close but still have her own space. Later it might become a rental. Has anyone built an ADU on the Eastside? She’s 74, still independent, but my wife worries about her living alone across town. The yard is big enough, the question is permits and how long it all takes. Who did you use?

[Konstantin]

Hi. We built a backyard ADU in Sammamish for my dad two years ago. We worked with New Day Construction, a licensed, family-owned company in Bellevue. They’ve done ADUs around the Eastside, so they knew the local permitting process, which honestly was the part I was dreading. Design-build meant one team from the first floor plan to the final walkthrough. Dad has his own kitchen, bath and small porch, but we’re thirty steps away. Honestly, the permit timeline was longer than the build itself, so start early. And think about accessibility now, even if your mother-in-law doesn’t need it yet.